10 Tips for Speed-Daters

10. Avoid barraging your date with questions. This isn’t a job interview. The best conversations I had were about smelly markers and what kind of drink gives the worst hangover.
9. Avoid weird open-ended questions like “What are your vitals?” “What’s your story?” (“Well, I was born on a snowy day in December, it was a breach birth, my mother was in extreme pain...”)
8. Don’t hit on the speed-date hosts. They are getting paid to be there, not paying $40 to talk to you.
7. Have a firm, un-clammy (if possible) handshake. Limp, wet hands--never a turn-on.
6. Don’t let other speed-daters look at your scorecard. Especially when you've written down “glass eye” or "weird mole" to describe other daters.
5. Try not to be distracted by hot non-speed-daters at the bar peering over at you. Resist urge to hide face with scorecard.
4. Go with a friend. Then if you feel insecure about being there, you can just blame your buddy for dragging you along.
3. Get your drink on before the rotation starts, as there is no cocktail service. Perhaps bring a flask?
2. The girls were much hotter than the guys, and I get the impression this may be popular among foreign chicks new to the States. A decent, fairly good-looking guy has a major chance to score in this venue.
1. Anything’s possible. One date told me his roommate met her boyfriend by playing against him on Xbox online. And if you're into online dating, at least speed-dating doesn't require that awkward meeting at the coffee shop where you're trying to figure out who your date is, only to discover his/her pic on match.com is from at least a decade ago.

Photo by Jessica Roberts